This invention relates to a wireless portable telephone communication system comprising at least a base station and a portable telephone set as a mobile station connected by a wireless communication to the base station. More particularly, the invention relates to an automatic radio wave output limiting system for a portable telephone set especially in public sites where limitation is imposed on the use of the portable telephone set.
Recently, with rapid increase in the number of users of cellular phone set and mobile information terminals communicating with a base station by a wireless communication (termed as a portable telephone set), those failing to observe the manner in using the portable telephone set are also increasing in number. In particular, there are passengers in electric rolling stock who use portable telephone sets despite fact that the passengers of the electric rolling stock are requested not to use the portable telephone sets by announcing.
In order to cope with the above-described problems, there is proposed in, for example, the JP Patent Kokai JP-A-9-331576 a system in which a call inhibiting/limiting station issuing a use limiting signal to portable telephone sets is provided in an area where it is desired to limit the use of the portable telephone sets, such as hospitals, libraries or museums, and in which means for receiving the use limiting signal sent out from the call inhibiting/limiting station and means for limiting the origination/incoming of a call at the time of reception of the use limiting signal are provided on the portable telephone set, so that, when the portable telephone set is moved to a use-limited area and is receiving the use limiting signal, it is possible to suppress the incoming of a call from a base station to the portable telephone set as well as the transmission from the portable telephone set to the base station.
However, the portable telephone set, the use of which has now been limited by the system proposed in JP Patent Kokai JP-A-9-331576 is virtually completely disconnected from a mobile communication network, such that, if someone intends to call an owner of the portable telephone set, a message indicating no response, such as a message running xe2x80x9cthe telephone set you are calling is outside the range of arrival of radio waves or has the power source of the portable telephone set turned off and cannot be calledxe2x80x9d is returned to the originating party.
In such case, the originating party (the party intending to call the portable telephone set) is not in a position to grasp whether the absence of response from the called portable telephone set is ascribable to the power source being off, the portable telephone set being outside the reaching range of radio waves or the portable telephone set is in the use-limited area.
There is also presented a problem that, if the owner of the portable telephone set of the system proposed in JP Patent Kokai JP-A-9-331576 is in a use-limited area without recognizing that he or she is in the use-limited are, the portable telephone set is unable to receive the incoming call, despite the fact that he or she has not made an operation of turning his or her portable telephone set off, that is an operation of relinquishing the call reception, such that he or she cannot have communication with the originating party against his or her intention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a portable telephone communication system in which the use of the portable telephone set is automatically limited in its use in an area where limitations on use of the portable telephone set are imposed, such as in a public means of traffic, e.g., in electric rolling stocks, or in public sites, and in which the causes of the absence of the response and various other information can be transmitted to an originator of a call to the use-limited portable telephone set.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system in which incoming of a call is communicated to the portable telephone set in a use-limited area so that the portable telephone set is able to communicate with the originating side after the portable telephone set has moved to a site where it is permitted to use the portable telephone set.
For accomplishing the above object, the present invention provides a mobile communication system, comprising: a base station; a mobile station terminal; and controlling means for limiting output of the mobile station terminal, the controlling means comprising: means for sending a reply message to said base station on reception of a call signal addressed to said mobile station terminal sent from said base station, in place of the mobile station terminal, a wireless communication of the mobile station terminal with said base station being limited.
Also the present invention provides the mobile communication system, as described above, the controlling means further comprising: means for sending out an output limitation command signal to the mobil station terminal located in a site where use of the mobile station terminal is limited, means for receiving information containing the reply message sent back from the mobile station terminal which receives the output limitation command signal to enter into an output-limitation mode; and means for registering and managing the mobile station terminal as an output-limited terminal.
Further the present invention provides a mobile communication system, comprising: a base station; a mobile station terminal; and controlling means for limiting output of the mobile station terminal, the controlling means comprising: means for causing a call incoming to arrive with a low powered radio wave at the mobile station terminal in a output-limited mode on reception of said call incoming addressed to the mobile station terminal, the means transmitting a reply message in response to the incoming to the mobile station terminal in place of the mobile station terminal to the base station.
In accordance with another aspect the present invention provides a portable telephone set output limiting system including a portable telephone output limiting management device for transmitting a radio signal message comprising an output limiting command information from a first antenna provided on a site where use of the portable telephone set is limited. When the portable telephone set enters the site to receive the output limitation command information transmitted from the first antenna, the output limiting mode is initiated to halt direct exchange with a base station to transmit to the first antenna of the portable telephone output limiting management device a message including the fact of entrance to an output cessation mode of the portable telephone sets, and the inherent information including a management member of the portable telephone set, telephone number, a reply message and a notification information flag, if need be, with a low power out put mode. The portable telephone output limiting management device receives the inherent information sent out from the portable telephone set through the first antenna to update and registers the proper information in a management table on a portable telephone base. The portable telephone output limiting management device assumes that the portable telephone sets registered in the management table as being the portable telephone sets placed under its control so that subsequently the portable telephone output limiting management device responds to the call-out from the base station to take the place of the portable telephone set in the output limited state until the portable telephone set commanded to be output-limited exits the site.
The portable telephone output limiting management device according to the present invention comprises means for sending out an output limitation command signal for limiting outputting of radio signal via a first antenna provided at a site where the use of a portable telephone set is limited to a portable telephone set located in a site where use of a portable telephone set is limited, and means for receiving the information inherent in the portable telephone set, transmitted from the portable telephone set which has received the output limiting command signal to halt the communication with the base station so as to be in the output-limited state, via the first antenna, to supervise the portable telephone set in the output-limited state along with registering the proper information including the call incoming permitting information in a management table. The portable telephone output limiting management device according to the present invention comprises a second transmission/reception antenna for having wireless communication with the base station and means for automatically transmitting to the originating side a reply message to an incoming call to the portable telephone set in the output limiting mode to take the place of the set. It is noted that the inherent information of the portable telephone set transmitted from the portable telephone set in the output-limiting mode includes the information on the reply message.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the portable telephone set also comprises means for limiting the outputting of the portable telephone set on reception of the output limitation command signal from the portable telephone output limiting management device via the first transmission/reception antenna and means for transmitting the inherent information of the portable telephone set via the first transmission/reception antenna to the portable telephone output limiting management device when the portable telephone set has entered into the output limiting mode.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, the portable telephone output limiting management device also comprises means for transmitting an output limiting command signal via a first antenna provided in a site where use of the portable telephone set is limited to a portable telephone set located in the site where use of the portable telephone set is limited, means for receiving an inherent information of the portable telephone set transmitted from the portable telephone set which has received the output limiting command signal to halt radio communication with a base station so as to be in the output-limited state, via the first antenna, to register and supervise the portable telephone set in the output limited state along with the inherent information and an incoming call permitting information, a second antenna for having radio communication with the base station and means for having reference to the call incoming permitting information from the inherent information received from the portable telephone set and stored in a management table in case of a call incoming to the portable telephone set in the output limiting state and for notifying the incoming of the call to the portable telephone set in case of permission of the incoming call, and means for sending message indicating an state of the call incoming in the portable telephone for notifying the state to an originating side.
On reception of a pre-set response transmitted from a portable telephone set via a third antenna provided in the use-permitted site, the portable telephone output limitation management device transmits to the base station a message as to the portable telephone set being in a moving state until such time as a user of the portable telephone set moves from the use-limited site to the use-permitted site.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, if a pre-set reply transmitted from the portable telephone set is received via the third antenna provided in a use-permitted site, it is assumed that the portable telephone set has moved to the use-permitted site. A handover command then is issued to effect handover process to a radio channel of an antenna connected to a repeater for the portable telephone set responsible for establishing connection between the portable telephone set in the output-limited state and the base station, at the same time as the transmission of the message indicating the moving state is halted and a request is made for a radio channel between the base station and the repeater for the portable telephone set responsive to the handover command. Still other objects and advantage of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description wherein preferred embodiment of the invention is shown and described. The drawing and description are to be regarding as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.